Ivanhoe Vista House by Formation Association

Sep 28, 2023

Photo by Stephen Schauer

Location: Los Angeles, California

Project size: 500 square feet (addition); 1,700 square feet (total)

Program: Ivanhoe Vista is a two-story addition to an existing house for a growing family. Situated along a slope, the reimagined residence offers new views out to the Ivanhoe Reservoir in Los Angeles's Silver Lake neighborhood.

Design Solution: Anchoring a triangular corner site, the new addition establishes its own identity while respectfully acknowledging its traditional counterpart. Immediately adjacent to the preexisting house, a gabled profile slowly unfolds into a faceted volume that peeks out from behind tree foliage and terminates with an expansive window-wall, framing views from a new primary suite. A stair (kinked around the roots of an existing olive tree), leads down to a basement-level kitchenette and tandem garage that doubles as a painting studio. During the Covid-19 pandemic, this lower level hosted artists and workshops, which benefitted from southern exposure and easy access to the lakeside park across the street.

Structure and Materials: At the lower level, concrete retaining walls encased with hand-raked plaster strategically negotiate the grade change and the olive tree's root system. Atop this textured podium, wood construction is sheathed in fire-resistive, dark-stained cedar siding and black corrugated metal. These finishes contrast with the neighborhood's predominantly white stucco Spanish Colonial architecture and recall a forgotten gabled wood structure that once covered and protected the reservoir.

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Photography by Stephen Schauer

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Drawings courtesy the firm

Architect: Formation Association 970 N. Broadway #209 Los Angeles, CA 90012 www.formationassociation.com @formation_association

Personnel in the firm who should receive special credit: Design Director: John K Chan, AIA, LEED AP Project Managers: Carlo Jose Guzman De Jesus, AIA; David Gonzales Rojas, RA Project Team: Nick Miuccio; Elizabeth Eshel, AIA, LEED AP; Colin Jacobs; Olga Oreshkina; Orbel Mangasar; Adrien Forney

Interior designer: Formation Association

Engineers: Structural: Ibarra Structural Engineering Plumbing Engineer: Engineous Group Inc.

Consultants: Arborist: Arbor Essence Energy Consultant: Alternative Energy Systems Geotechnical: Schick Geotechnical, Inc.

General contractor: Build Zone Corp.

Photographer: Stephen Schauer

Exterior Cladding Wood: Fire-X Cedar, stained

Roofing Metal: AEP Span, corrugated metal

Glazing Skylights: Velux, Sun Tunnel Other: C.R. Laurence glass railing system

Windows Metal frame: Milgard

Doors Entrances: Existing Metal doors: Milgard Wood doors: ETO Hadley, Interior Doors Sliding doors: Milgard & Western Windows, Multi-slide Special doors: Custom garage door with Johnson Hardware

Interior Finishes Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: Custom millwork, stained oak Paints and stains: Dunn-Edwards Paints Solid surfacing: Caesarstone Floor and wall tile: Granada Cement Tiles Wood Flooring: Summit Peak

Furnishings Tables: Hem, Alle Round Table Other furniture: Vitra, Jasper Morrison Cork Stools

Lighting Dimming system or other lighting controls: Leviton, Decora

Plumbing Tub: Americh Sink: Duravit Kitchen Faucet: Axor, Citterio